For those who need a latest dental plan, possibly don’t go to Tom Hanks for advice.
The actor took to social media over the weekend to warn fans about an AI-generated video using his likeness to advertise a latest dental plan he didn’t authorize.
“BEWARE!! There is a video on the market promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I actually have nothing to do with it,” Hanks wrote in overlay text to his 9.5 million Instagram followers.
The AI-generated image looks like a younger version of the actor — or a photograph that uses a little bit of Facetune. It’s unclear what precisely the commercial was for or what company made the doctored image, as Hanks didn’t name it or link out.
Related: Tom Hanks Says AI Has the Power to Keep His Presence Alive Long After His Death: ‘My Performances Can Go On and On and On’
The commercial is the newest example of the mounting concern over how AI technology might be dangerous and used with malicious intent.
During a podcast appearance on “The Adam Buxton Podcast” last May, Hanks noted that AI technology is perhaps used as a technique to place deceased actors in movies but noted the “artistic” and “legal’ challenges.
“I might be hit by a bus tomorrow, and that is it, but performances can go on and on and on and on,” Hanks said. “Outside the understanding of AI and deepfake, there will be nothing to let you know that it is not me and me alone. And it is going to have some extent of lifelike quality. That is definitely an inventive challenge, but it surely’s also a legal one.”
Hanks’ comments got here at first of the Writers’ Guild of America Strike in May, which raised questions on whether or not AI technology might be used to assist write scripted shows.
WGA writers resumed work last week when the union reached a tentative three-year-long agreement with major studios, production firms, and streaming services in Hollywood.
Related: Tom Hanks Surprises Antique Shops With Typewriters: ‘They’re Showing Up On Doorsteps Unannounced’